Viking; Sheba; Albertson-Pettyjohn Prospect, Valdez Creek Mining District, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Viking; Sheba; Albertson-Pettyjohn Prospect	Prospect
Valdez Creek Mining District	Mining District
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

The veins contain significant concentrations of gold and copper, but exposed strike lengths are short (Kurtak and others, 1992).
Location: This prospect lies on the divide between the East and West Forks Maclaren River at an elevation of 5,500 feet and in the NW1/4 section 30, T. 19 S., R. 6 E., Fairbanks Meridian. The prospect corresponds to locality A18 of Kurtak and others (1992) and Kardex site number KX68-79 (Heiner and Porter, 1972).
Geology: At this prospect, magnetite-rich metabasalt of the Nikolai Greenstone of Late Triassic age is intruded by quartz monzonite of Jurassic or Cretaceous age (Nokleberg and others, 1982). Numerous malachite-stained chalcopyrite-bearing quartz-carbonate veins cut the basalt. The largest of the veins is about 10 feet wide and and can be followed at least 100 feet along strike. The veins, like the metabasalt, are rich in magnetite. Some of the veins contain a significant amount of gold; others are enriched only in copper (Kurtak and others, 1992, table A18). Selected sample 2641 of a 1.4-foot-wide magnetite-rich vein in basalt contained 1.26 ounces of gold per ton and 0.12 percent tungsten; it possibly contained scheelite. Copper-rich veins average about 2.1 percent copper; a 4.5-foot-wide magnetite-carbonate vein that could be followed for about 100 feet assayed 6.3 percent copper (sample 3212). This vein also assayed 0.81 ounce of gold per ton and 0.78 ounce of silver per ton. Partly because of the gold content of the veins, the U.S. Bureau of Mines assigned moderate potential to the prospect, but noted that the exposed length of veins was short (Kurtak and others, 1992).
Workings: Viking claims were located on the prospect for copper, silver, and gold by Vernon Hanson in 1961 (Heiner and Porter, 1972; Kardex site number KX68-79). The site was sampled in the early 1990's by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (Kurtak and others, 1992).
Age: The magnetite-rich mineralization is probably associated with the intrusion of the Jurassic or Cretaceous quartz monzonite.
Alteration: Oxidation of iron- and copper-bearing minerals.

Commodities (Major) - Au, Cu; (Minor) - Ag, Fe, W
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Copper-magnetite veins; probably some affinity to both Basaltic Cu and Cu skarn

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	MH065

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References